History Main / OneDegreeOfSeparation

* {{Lampshaded}} in [[http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2009/03/21 this]] ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' strip, as shown in the page image.

* ''Webcomic/{{Rain}}'': Where should we start? Rain, back when she was Ryan, and Gavin attended the same elementary school and were best friends. After she moves to a new town with her Aunt Fara and starts attending a new school, she runs into Gavin once again. In that time, Gavin befriended Rudy, who [[spoiler: dates Rain for a while]], and became TheBeard for his sister Maria. They eventually break up and Maria starts dating [[spoiler: Chanel]]. Emily, the school's LovableAlphaBitch, used to date [[MayDecemberRomance a much older guy]] named Chase. Chase is revealed to be both Rain's older sister Kellen's ex-fiance and [[spoiler: the father of [[TeenPregnancy Emily's child]]]], while Emily also used to date [[spoiler: Maria]] and later becomes good friends with Rain [[spoiler: before they start dating as well]]. Meanwhile, Rain's older brother Aiken was engaged to Jessica, whose therapist, Vincent, is revealed to be [[spoiler: Fara's ex from years ago, back when Vincent [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} was Vivian]]]]. Jessica later stays with Rain and Fara, befriending their downstairs neighbor Heather, whose younger [[AmbiguousGender sibling]] Ky is another member of Rain's friend group. Later on, Drew, who goes to the same school as Rain and Gavin, falls for Ky.

* In the ''Anime/LoveLive'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13090201/1/The-Ginger-Devil The Ginger Devil]]'', Honoka Kousaka is captured by human trafficking and is purchased by the mafioso don Alessandro Ricci, who hires her as one of his enforcers and later his daughter Michelle's bodyguard in exchange for her freedom in the future. Michelle is the cousin of Mari Ohara from ''Anime/LoveLiveSunshine'', and one of Mari's lovers, Dia, is close friends with Eli Ayase, one of Honoka's fellow idols.

* In the first ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' anime, a large degree of the characters are tightly interconnected, in part due to a massive difference in how Homunculi are "born." [[spoiler:Among a number of examples, Roy has a connection with Winry, Lust and Scar are in-laws, Wrath is related to Izumi, and Ed and Al have a connection with at least one Homunculi]]. Even characters who should have nothing to do with each other [[spoiler:due to one of them dying]], i.e., Nina and Elicia, are connected by the sheer coincidence of her being invited to Ed's birthday party!

* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'':
** In the [[Film/SawI first film]], two apparent strangers, Adam Stanheight and Dr. Lawrence Gordon, are trapped in a dilapidated bathroom together. It turns out, however, that Adam was hired by a detective to spy on Lawrence, who was suspected of being Jigsaw, whose identity is in turn revealed to be that of John Kramer, a patient of Lawrence's with terminal cancer. This was all part of Jigsaw's plan, but Adam and Lawrence didn't know that when they found out.
** Later films show that many of John's victims were patients at the drug recovery clinic ran by his ex-wife Jill Tuck, or people he knew beforehand. Those who aren't are likely to be connected to one of the various Jigsaw apprentices instead.
** While the cast of ''Film/{{Spiral|2021}}'' has no connections with most of the previous films' characters, the plot progressively establishes most of them to either have different relationships with each other or that they've met each other at least once, including the Spiral killer themselves towards Zeke and Pete.
* Film/TheViewAskewniverse, often with Jay and Silent Bob being in the center of the Venn Diagram of character connections. ''Film/JayAndSilentBobStrikeBack'' is built off of all the characters from the previous films.
* ''Film/{{Clue}}'' uses this, with characters turning out to be increasingly connected as the plot unfolds; the precise nature of some of these connections, however, depends on [[MultipleEndings which ending]] you go with.
* ''Film/{{Crash}}'', being a HyperlinkStory with an explicitly stated theme of people's unnoticed interconnections.
* ''Film/DoYouBelieve'': Similar to ''Crash'', many characters are connected from the beginning by a hospital at which they either work or are patients.

* ''Amores Perros'' (or ''Love's A Bitch'') has three different stories with the characters tied together by a car crash and a dog.
* ''Film/LoveActually'' does this with a ''very'' large cast.
** To be exact, Jamie and Sarah are friends of Juliet and Peter, appearing at their wedding. During their reception, Colin has several failed attempts to flirt with women, including Mia. Peter's best man is Mark who knows Mia. Mia is the new secretary for Harry who is married to Karen. Sarah also works for Harry. Karen is the sister of the new Prime Minister David and is also close friends with Daniel. Daniel's son goes to the same school as Natalie's cousins. We also find out that Mia is neighbors with Natalie's family. Even the salesman Rufus, who had earlier wrapped a gift for Harry, manages to help Daniel and his son at the airport.
** The only ones that don't directly interact with the others are Billy and his manager. However, his antics and his music video inspire Daniel's son as to how to get his crush's attention.
* In ''Playing By Heart'', this is TheReveal -- except for some ArcWords, there's no hint of any connections other than the obvious ones, until the end.

* ''Auf der anderen Seite''/''The Edge of Heaven'' by Fatih Akin did this with three parent/child pairs. All six characters were connected in some way.

* ''Film/CrazyStupidLove'': Nearly every character with some kind of plot relevance is connected to each other. Cal and Emily are married, and Emily had a one-night stand with her co-worker David. Jessica is Cal's children's babysitter, and her father is friends with Cal. Jacob becomes Cal's friend, and his girlfriend Hannah is revealed to be [[spoiler:Cal and Emily's daughter]]. [[spoiler:Even the random woman from the bar that Cal slept with turns out to be his son's teacher.]]

* Also happens in ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''. Victor Hugo liked this trope!
* ''Literature/EpithetErasedPrisonOfPlastic'': In the second chapter, we learn that Giovanni, Molly's BigBrotherMentor, is cousins with one of Molly's best friends, Trixie. Neither one of them knew that the other had met Molly before the former bursts into the speech class, and the latter is shocked to learn that the man that Molly has been cryptically and respectfully referring to as "Boss" is the family's dorky weakling.
--> Giovanni wasn't a ''bad guy'', per se, but he was basically the world's biggest goober. [[WhatDoesSheSeeInHim She couldn't believe Molly thought he was cool.]]

* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's short story ''Literature/AllYouZombies'': [[spoiler:The various characters are connected by ''[[MyOwnGrandpa zero]]'' degrees of separation.]]
** Another Heinlein story, ''Literature/ByHisBootstraps'', uses almost exactly the same gimmick.
** In ''Literature/TheCatWhoWalksThroughWalls'', it turns out that the guy needed to save the multiverse just happens to be [[spoiler:Lazarus Long's son]].
* ''Literature/AndTheMountainsEchoed'' by Creator/KhaledHosseini. Seriously, what are the odds? Markos happens to be a good friend of Nabi's, [[spoiler: and helps him pass on the letter to Pari informing her of her true parenthood]]. Idris and Timur both live in the same city in the United States as Abdullah and end up meeting Nabi, his uncle. Adel becomes friends with Gholam, who is [[spoiler: the son of Abdullah's half-brother Idris, and Adel's father owns the same ancestral plot of land as Abdullah and Idris did, and...]] Yeah, it's confusing.

* In ''Manga/RecoveryOfAnMMOJunkie'' Yuta Sakurai becomes best friends with Moriko Morioka in an MMO. It turns out he has a friend at work who used to talk to Moriko on the phone a lot for business reasons. Yuta was very impressed by a personnel manual Moriko wrote back then. He runs into her by accident in a convenience store, where they both want the last piece of chicken. Much later, they collide by a street corner where he accidentally knocks her unconscious with his elbow. His friend from work ALSO has a chance encounter with Moriko, recognizes her voice from back then and asks her out. And ... it just so happens that Yuta and Moriko used to be best friends in ''another'' MMO, many years back. And the student behind the counter in the convenience store? He's Yuta's and Moriko's guild leader in the game. This in a country of 127 million people.

** It should be noted that Lelouch and Suzaku's relationship is ''central'' to the series, not just a coincidence (check how the beginning and ending revolve around ''their'' relationship), and both are royalty -- Lelouch literally, Suzaku [[HereditaryRepublic more or less]] - so it's no surprise that they're well-connected. Anya and Jeremiah are where they are due to the same thing that connects them to Lelouch - Anya [[spoiler: gets the piloting ability to be a Knight of the Rounds ''because'' she's possessed by Marianne]], and Jeremiah and pretty much everyone else who cared about [[spoiler: Marianne, or Lelouch and Nunnally, came to Area 11 specifically because Lelouch and Nunnally had supposedly died there - including Clovis, as revealed in an audio drama]]. Lloyd [[spoiler: gets engaged to Milly]] ''because'' the Ashford family has Marianne's knightmares, which they have because they were connected to her, which is also the reason they took in Lelouch and Nunnally. Legitimate coincidences include Euphie meeting Suzaku [[MeetCute unless she planned it that way]], Lloyd meeting Suzaku, Villetta - Jeremiah's second - getting her Knightmare stolen, and then [[spoiler:being rescued by Ohgi]], Lelouch's classmate Nina being the one to [[spoiler: invent Britannia's superweapon]], and a few others - plenty of DiabolusExMachina to go around for both protagonists. But the level of connectedness in general is pretty typical of monarchies, making it a JustifiedTrope.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': In the first episode, Kira finds himself opposing Athrun, his best friend from the colonies. But before that, he runs into an unknown girl who later joins the crew of the Archangel -- Cagalli. [[spoiler: And she turns out to be his sister.]] Later on, the Archangel comes across an escape pod from a destroyed ZAFT vessel, containing none other than Lacus Clyne, Athrun's fiancee. [[spoiler: By the end of the first season, ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' [[FanonDisContinuity be damned]], Kira is romantically attached to Lacus, and Athrun to Cagalli.]] And their AcePilot, Mwu la Fllaga, has an ongoing feud with Athrun's commanding officer, Rau le Creuset, [[spoiler: who turns out to be Mwu's father's clone. And the guy who ran the project? The one who eventually genetically modified Kira to be the Ultimate Coordinator.]]
** [[spoiler:Some even theorize that the guy who ran the project (and is thus Kira and Cagalli's dad), Dr. Hibiki, may have used Al da Flaga's DNA in the Ultimate Coordinator project, adding yet ''another'' attachment.]]

* Almost all of the main characters in ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' are connected to Chrono in some way, and through him to each other. Chrono met Rosette and her brother, Joshua, when they woke him up from a long sleep in a tomb. Joshua was then kidnapped by Aion, Chrono's former friend. Chrono and Rosette join the Magdalan Order to try to find Joshua based on advice from Father Remington, a man who was trying to convince Joshua to join the Order because of his powers. Remington was also [[spoiler:Mary Magdalene's guard in the Order when Chrono kidnapped her back in 1870. The Elder was her foster father of sorts.]] During their search for Joshua, Chrono and Rosette run into Azmaria, who has powers startlingly similar to Joshua [[spoiler:because they're both Apostles]]. They all start to look for Joshua together, and run into a "jewel witch" named Satella. Satella is searching for a missing family member, and finds out that [[spoiler:her sister, Florette, has become Fiore, Joshua's maid and a servant of Aion.]] Pretty much the only characters that don't have a strong connection to Chrono, Rosette or Aion are Sister Kate (Rosette's commander in the Order) and Father Gilliam, an ally of Chrono and Rosette's in the order.
* In ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'', most of the characters have heard of Nobuhiro "Taro Kawaguchi" Mashiro, the mangaka uncle of the main character and some of the editors have worked with him (Editor in Chief Sasaki, for example, was the one who told him Shonen Jump wouldn't renew his contract). In a later arc of the series, Azuma, an out-of-work mangaka, happens to be Nobuhiro's assistant. Outside of the manga industry, Kaya's father was friends with Nobuhiro in school, and [[GenerationXerox the woman Nobuhiro loved happens to be the mother of the girl Moritaka loves]].
* ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' has this for the first few of Shonen Bat's victims. The [[spoiler:copycat]] victim Shougo is running against the third victim (Yuuichi) for student council president. Yuuichi is being tutored by the fourth victim (Harumi), who has an alter ego Maria that works as a prostitute, and one of her clients is the [[spoiler:second copycat]] victim Hirukawa. Hirukawa's daughter Taeka is the fifth victim.
* All over the place in ''Anime/DenNohCoil''. The grandfather of protaganist Okonogi Yuko "Yasako" [[spoiler:was the doctor of]] Asazawa Yuko "Isako" and also [[spoiler:created]] the [[TitleDrop Den-noh Coil]] and [[ArcWords 4-4-2-3]] [[spoiler:based off Isako's brother]], which gave Yasako and Isako their nicknames. Yasako's grandmother Megabaa (wife of the grandfather) set up the Coil Detective Agency whose membership includes that of [[spoiler:Yasako's father (Megabaa's son), who also works for the Megamass Corp. and is the boss of fellow Agency member]] Tamako, whose immediate superior is [[spoiler:Agency member]] Nekome and is the aunt of Agency member Haraken, who was friends with Kanna, who died in a car accident [[spoiler:partly because of Isako's "encoding", who copied her techniques from former "encoder" Tamako who is now trying to stop Isako's "encoding" along with Nekome, who is actually a DoubleAgent and is really Isako's partner in crime and whose brother]] Takeru became friends with Yasako.
* In ''Ichinensei Ni Nacchattara'', the main character Iori just happens to have his life saved by the sister of his oblivious crush, at the cost of being turned into [[FountainOfYouth a seven-year-old]] [[GenderBender girl]], which causes him to be sent to the same school as the kid whom he risked ''his'' life to save. By pure coincidence, his younger sister attends that school as well. He winds up living with his crush (who happens to bear a strong resemblance to [[spoiler: the woman Iori's father cheated on his mother with]]) and her sister, and after [[spoiler: their house blows up]] his real family takes them in out of the goodness of their hearts, still completely oblivious to Iori's true identity. Also, [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg a minor character that Iori and his friends encountered once lives in the same apartment complex.]]
* The ''Manga/BlackJack'' anime suffers from this. Kumiko is the daughter of Jack's mentor Dr. Honma, and she works for a man named Tetsu who [[spoiler:was a pickpocket until he lost his fingers and then had them sewn back on by Jack.]] In the manga none of these characters are related.

* Nearly every main character in ''Manga/OnePiece'' has a connection to others.
** The Pirate King Gol D. Roger left his mark ''everywhere''. Even twenty years after his death his influence still seems to reach every corner of the world. Just among the Straw Hat crew, Luffy (unknowingly) wears the hat Roger wore in his youth, his hero Shanks served on Roger's ship, his grandfather was Roger's [[FriendlyEnemy greatest rival]], he was trained by Roger's first mate during the TimeSkip, and his adoptive brother Ace is Roger's biological son. Shortly before the main story began, Jimbei had befriended Ace when [[FireForgedFriends they stalemated after a five-day battle]]. Franky's sensei was the one who built Roger's ship, the Oro Jackson. Brook had befriended the man who would become the Pirate King's onboard doctor, Crocus. [[GenerationXerox Usopp's father serves as the sharpshooter]] in Shanks' crew, who apprenticed on Roger's crew. The first real pirate antagonist the crew encountered, Buggy the Clown, also apprenticed on Roger's ship alongside Shanks. Robin's goal to discover the "true" history of the world and learn about the events of the "Void Century" has already been completely uncovered by Roger and his crew years ago. The connections just go on and on.
** This is especially evident in the Dressrosa arc, where many of the participants in the Tournament [[spoiler:for Ace's devil fruit]] have a connection to characters that connect them to Luffy.
** Also in the Dressrosa arc we learn that Law's ParentalSubstitute [[spoiler: Donquixote Rosinante]] doesn't only connect him to Doflamingo, but also to Sengoku, as [[spoiler: Rosinante was Sengoku's adopted son]]. This in turn connects Law to Luffy, as Sengoku and Garp are friends.
** In the Reverie arc, many people whom the Straw Hat met throughout their journey meet up with each other discussing about their common friend. This ranges from Vivi, the Neptune Family, Riku Family, Coby, the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, Dalton and Doctor Kureha.
** Also during the Reverie arc, as well as the subsequent Wano arc, the existence of a near-mythical crew "Rocks Pirates" is brought up - and what do you know, [[spoiler:virtually every present-day character that was a pirate in those days was either a part of the crew (Whitebeard, Kaido, Big Mom, Shiki, John, Bakkin supposedly, [[WildMassGuessing Shakky perhaps]]), or in opposition of them (Gold Roger and - presumably - his own crew). Many of the modern-day big names, such as Shanks and Blackbeard, were then directly connected to one of the afore-mentioned people. It really seemed like the focal point of the entire recent One Piece history]].
* Almost all the main cast in ''Manga/NukoDuke'' has some connection to each other. Everyone in the city (including animals) know who Yuuya is due to his constant job-changing and his habit of sleeping wherever he wants. Whenever a new character is introduced, it's always someone he already knows, such as Yamato (his best friend), Haruki (his younger brother), Kana (his pet's twin sister), Inori (his girlfriend) and Kana's owners (Inori's father and cousin).

* Many of the new characters in ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' are somehow connected to the old cast(s). Yukizome was the CoolTeacher of the ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'' cast, Kizakura was Jin Kirigiri's best friend, Sakakura was the head of security at Hope's Peak [[spoiler: and inadvertently helped motivate Hinata to become Izuru Kamukura]], [[ChildhoodFriends Andou, Izayoi and Kimura]] [[spoiler: were expelled thanks to Komaeda's efforts to get the school exams cancelled]], and Mitarai was not only a member of Class 77-B, but a close friend of the Imposter and Tsumiki [[spoiler:as well as Junko Enoshima's unwilling accomplice]]. Even Hinata, who was the least connected to Class 77-B, gains a few extra connections by having him not only become friends with Natsumi Fuyuhiko [[spoiler:the day before she died]], but also with Chiaki [[spoiler:before ''she'' dies in real life as well]]. And ''every'' character, in all the games, has either attended Hope's Peak at some point or is directly related to someone who did.
** Even the spinoffs aren't immune: in ''Manga/KillerKiller'', Hijirihara and the rest of Division 6 run into former Hope's Peak accolade Juzo during a underground colosseum bust, and both Hijirihara ''and'' the main villain got their love of killing from [[spoiler:seeing Mukuro slaughter their school.]]
* Yuuto from ''Manga/TonariNoKashiwagiSan'' ended having a connection with the Kashiwagi family even before he becomes friends with Kotone. For one thing, Kotone is secretly his favorite online artist Sayane. For another, Kotone's older sister Kotori is the boss at his new job. Also, Tina's boyfriend turns out to have been the boy that caused Kotone to become a ClosetGeek.

* ''Manga/ComicGirls'' has three recurring adults: the FourGirlEnsemble's landlady, teacher and editor (as they are also {{Sequential Artist}}s). It turns out they were high school classmates, and joined the same JapaneseSchoolClub. When Miharu finds out that some of students[[note]]Kaos, Ruki and Tsubasa are in Miharu's homeroom, while Koyume is in a different class[[/note]], she's surprised, and a bit annoyed with Ririka for not telling her earlier.
* In ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'', most of the main cast is closely connected. Yuu shares a class with her two closest friends, Koyomi and Akari. Yuu also works for the student council, with her literature teacher, Riko Hakozaki as the club advisor, and Koyomi helps out by writing a play for them. Some of the characters in both groups hang out at a local café, [[spoiler:the manager of which is in a relationship with Riko]]. Riko's colleague from her theater troupe comes to help coach the student council, and turns out to have known Touko's older sister while they were in high school. [[spoiler:The theatre troupe also ends up recruiting Touko after the play]]. Riko in particular has ties with virtually every named character outside of Yuu and Touko's families.
* ''Manga/CaseClosed'' is a long-running mystery series where backstories are usually key revelations--but most of the time, good and bad guys alike are secretly intimately connected to a ridiculous degree, often by complete coincidence. For example, here are instances of this trope regarding only the odd connections of Kudou Shinichi, the main protagonist: Early in the series, Shinichi finds a rival in Kaitou KID, a thief he'd never heard of prior to encountering him during a "joke" heist, and whose true identity he still does not know. But despite their meeting being completely coincidental, with neither having any knowledge of any personal connections, KID's father was Shinichi's mother's mentor and Shinichi's father's rival and best friend, and in the thief's [[Manga/MagicKaito own series' manga/anime adaptation]], Shinichi's surrogate uncle, Agasa, is heavily implied to be the long-time friend of Jii, KID's surrogate grandfather, as well as the unwitting supplier of the gear Jii gives KID to help with his heists. Further, despite Shinichi's encounter with [[BigBadEnsemble the Black Organization]] being pure bad luck, ex-member Haibara's seeking him out for protection being completely unrelated to who Shinichi actually is, and the Black Org having no idea Kudo Shinichi is even still alive to be involved in any of this, the assassin sent after Haibara is the best friend of Shinichi's mother, a friendship she made during her mentorship under Kaito's father. Not only that, but it's the same assassin whose life Shinichi and Ran completely coincidentally encountered and saved while said assassin was undercover as an alleged serial killer, completely ignorant of her real appearance or identity, ties to Shinichi's family, or the Black Org. And after saving that "serial killer," they encounter Akai Shuichi, the FBI agent who would later partner with Shinichi after Shinichi, again entirely by coincidence, gets himself involved with the Black Org. As it turns out, Shinichi randomly met the entire Akai family (sans the father) when he was on a family beach trip as a child before any of this happened, and became Akai Shuichi's little sister's inspiration to be a detective. This just covers a few connections with ''the main character.'' The extended cast's connections are just as crazy.

* It's established very early on in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' that there was only a single student in Japan to have scored higher than Shirogane on the national mock exams, a boy by the name of Mikado Shijo. It's later revealed that Mikado is the twin brother of Shirogane's classmate (and later friend) Maki, which also means that he's the cousin of Shirogane's crush Kaguya. [[spoiler:It's also turns out that the reason why Shirogane's family is so poor is because his father's company was stolen by Kaguya's family.]]

* In ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'', most of the main cast all go to the same high school, so this isn't that unlikely. However, Nozaki's neighbor and fellow mangaka Miyako is college friends with Seo's brother Ryousuke. Nozaki remains oblivious to the fact that he's related to Seo and also knows her friends Sakura and Kashima (and Sakura in return is unaware that Ryousuke's familiar with Nozaki and Miyako).
* In the first ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' anime, a large degree of the characters are tightly interconnected, in part due to a massive difference in how Homunculi are "born." [[spoiler:Among a number of examples, Roy has a connection with Winry, Lust and Scar are in-laws, Wrath is related to Izumi, and Ed and Al have a connection with at least one Homunculi]]. Even characters who should have nothing to do with each other [[spoiler:due to one of them dying]], i.e., Nina and Elicia, are connected by the sheer coincidence of her being invited to Ed's birthday party!
* In ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'', the eponymous penal crew fought beside each other for years before they found out how deeply they were connected. It turns out that King was a childhood friend of Diane [[spoiler:who brainwashed her to forget him]], and the brother of Ban's lover. Also, Meliodas used to be close friends with Gowther's father, and Gowther himself had a thing like 40 years ago with the aunt of Meliodas' girlfriend, who ''also' had a childhood friend way back that Escanor inherited his powers from. [[spoiler:Also, Meliodas is the only man Merlin has ever loved.]] But none of these connections have anything to do with why they were arrested by the same tiny kingdom or why they were placed on a team with each other.

** Of course in this case it makes no logical sense whatsoever. For example: [[spoiler:Hulk is revealed to have killed Peter Parker's parents even though canonically Spiderman was already a superhero in the UMU when Banner became the Hulk]].
*** Quite frankly, anything and everything Bendis established in ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvelTeamUp'' was either {{retcon}}ned away or blatantly ignored almost as soon as the series was published. Even Bendis ''himself'' pretty much ignored everything.
* The Creator/MarvelComics universe includes a concept called the "Nexus-Being" or some such, which describes the person who is the focus of their universe. That role is filled by the ComicBook/ScarletWitch: her [[ComicBook/{{Magneto}} father]]'s a mutant {{supervillain}} ([[spoiler: sometimes he's her adoptive father rather than her biological father, DependingOnTheWriter]]), her [[ComicBook/TheVision ex-husband]] is a robot superhero, her [[ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} brother]] married into [[ComicBook/TheInhumans the royal family of a secret city]] that was TouchedByVorlons, her sister ([[spoiler: or half-sister, or her sister by adoption, or both, DependingOnTheWriter]]) is dating a member of the Summers' famously TangledFamilyTree, one of her sons married into an extraterrestrial imperial family, and she herself got inbuilt magic powers from a Chaos demon.
* Originally, the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' were this for Marvel. They are called the "First Family" of Marvel because the first 100+ issues ultimately became the building block for the entire Franchise/MarvelUniverse. Titles like ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' and ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' spun-off the pages of this comic, and Namor was reintroduced from the Timely Era to the Marvel universe as its major anti-hero and anti-villain on these pages. Fantastic Four villains like Doctor Doom and Galactus became Marvel-wide villains, and the FF were also a major part of Spider-Man's early era, showing up on Issue 1 and then recurring later, with Peter even tussling with Dr. Doom and for the longest time counting Johnny Storm as his best friend in the superhero community.
* Jenny Sparks from ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' was the spirit of the 20th Century, and as a result is somehow connected to every mover and shaker of the century, both good and bad -- from being raised by Einstein to persuading Hitler to give up painting, and met or worked with pretty much every superhero on the planet. Her successor, Jenny Quantum, will presumably be the same for the 21st century.
* Seems to happen to most of the mortal side characters in ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', even excluding circumstances directly caused by Morpheus' influence.
* A central conceit of ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'' is that each of the seven leads is accidentally setting up the others to defeat the Sheeda without ever quite meeting.

* Utilised in one storyline of ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', as part of a flashback. Several members of the cast (Chromedome, Drift, Ratchet, Skids and Whirl) turn out to be in one way or another connected to each other as part of a story involving a faked terrorist plot and a heist. Through the story, there are several other cameos and connections to other major characters, chief among them Orion Pax, Prowl and [[spoiler:Shockwave]].

* ''Fanfic/{{Weightless|MassEffect}}'': [[Franchise/MassEffect Shepard]] used to live in an orphanage where the nephew of one of the caretaker was Kaidan, then she was bailed out from there by Ghost/[[spoiler: Kai Leng]]. Later, after her rape, she was rescued by [[spoiler: Nihlus]], who then was spared by [[spoiler: Samara]] because without him Shepard would die. And now, apparently, Jack looked familiar to her, too.

* Ranma's former instructor in ''Fanfic/RanmaSaotomeChiMaster'' is revealed to be Cologne's daughter-in-law and the many-greats grandmother of Shampoo's grandfather.
* In ''Batman: Melody for a Mockingbird'', Scarecrow and Mr. Freeze were chosen by the BigBad [[spoiler:Thomas Elliot]] to be his CoDragons only marginally for what they could contribute to the EvilPlan. Mostly, it was because he was already familiar with them: [[spoiler:Crane and Elliot were classmates in university, and Elliot had worked under Fries as a hospital intern.]]

* The fact that [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Bethany Hawke]] has this with several characters in the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' franchise is illustrated in ''Fanfic/BeyondHeroes: Of Sunshine and Red Lyrium,'' in which she's the Inquisitor. Among other things, she knows Cullen and Samson from her years in Kirkwall's Circle of Magi and she was acquainted with Leliana as a child in Lothering.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11517728/1/Because-Being-Together-is-Enough Because Being Together is Enough]]'', [[WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution Kurt]] was friends with an American-exchanged student named Stephan. The next time Kurt sees him was when Stephan was accompanying his sister Amanda (and also Kurt's girlfriend) to check upon him.
* In the ''VideoGame/Persona5'' fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/22111126/chapters/52773292 Murder, Arson and Jaywalking...]]'', Sae Nijima meets with a bartender named Emi, who she ends strikes up a friendship and later a romance. Emi turns out to ''Emi Sakamoto'', the mother of Ryuji Sakamoto, who is the teammate ([[spoiler:and later love interest]]) of Makoto, Sae's little sister.
* In ''Fanfic/ACaseStudyInTheSturdinessOfTheRookie9'', Kakashi tasks Team 7 (Sakura, Choji, and Shino) with a "mission" to get close to Genma and prank him because of a LostFoodGrievance. Choji invokes this trope by bringing up how Genma's teacher was Choji's father, saying how cool it would be if Genma taught his teacher's son and his teammates.
* In the ''Anime/LoveLive'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13090201/1/The-Ginger-Devil The Ginger Devil]]'', Honoka Kousaka is captured by human trafficking and is purchased by the mafioso don Alessandro Ricci, who hires her as one of his enforcers and later his daughter Michelle's bodyguard in exchange for her freedom in the future. Michelle is the cousin of Mari Ohara from ''Anime/LoveLiveSunshine'', and one of Mari's lovers, Dia, is close friends with Eli Ayase, one of Honoka's fellow idols.

** The 100th and 200th episodes "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS5E12GirlsVersusSuits Girls Vs. Suits]]" and "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS9E16HowYourMotherMetMe How Your Mother Met Me]]" reveal that Ted and The Mother were separated at first by three degrees, specifically through her and Robin’s acquaintance [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS4E09TheNakedMan Mitch the music teacher]] and The Mother’s ex-roommate Kelly whom Barney picked up on [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS3E12NoTomorrow St. Patrick’s Day in 2008 in a club Ted went to]], and then two degrees via her other ex-roommate Cindy, who briefly dates Ted and breaks up with him, after which he leaves their apartment just as The Mother [[MissedHimByThatMuch enters her room not having seen him]]. On a few occasions they are actually only separated by one degree before they met: "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS5E01Definitions Definitions]]" reveals that Ted briefly taught a lecture where The Mother (and as we find out later, Cindy) were in the audience, but he was in the wrong room. In "Girls Vs. Suits" Ted leaves behind The Mother’s [[ArcSymbol yellow umbrella]] that he took from her after that same 2008 club visit, which becomes the UmbrellaOfTogetherness she carries in the GrandFinale when they MeetCute.

** The 100th and 200th episodes "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS5E12GirlsVersusSuits Girls Vs. Suits]]" and "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS9E16HowYourMotherMetMe How Your Mother Met Me]]" reveal that Ted and The Mother were separated at first by three degrees, specifically through her and Robin’s acquaintance [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS4E09TheNakedMan Mitch the cellist]] and The Mother’s ex-roommate Kelly whom Barney picked up on [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS3E12NoTomorrow St. Patrick’s Day in 2008 in a club Ted went to]], and then two degrees via her other ex-roommate Cindy, who briefly dates Ted and breaks up with him, after which he leaves their apartment just as The Mother [[MissedHimByThatMuch enters her room not having seen him]]. On a few occasions they are actually only separated by one degree before they met: "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS5E01Definitions Definitions]]" reveals that Ted briefly taught a lecture where The Mother (and as we find out later, Cindy) were in the audience, but he was in the wrong room. In "Girls Vs. Suits" Ted leaves behind The Mother’s [[ArcSymbol yellow umbrella]] that he took from her after that same 2008 club visit, which becomes the UmbrellaOfTogetherness she carries in the GrandFinale when they MeetCute.

** The 100th and 200th episodes "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS5E12GirlsVersusSuits Girls Vs. Suits]]" and "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS9E16HowYourMotherMetMe How Your Mother Met Me]]" reveal that Ted and The Mother were separated by two degrees, specifically through their acquaintance [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS4E09TheNakedMan Mitch the cellist]], The Mother’s ex-roommate Kelly whom Barney picked up on [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS3E12NoTomorrow St. Patrick’s Day in 2008]], and her other ex-roommate Cindy, who briefly dates Ted and breaks up with him, after which he leaves their apartment just as The Mother [[MissedHimByThatMuch enters her room not having seen him]]. On a few occasions they are only separated by one degree, as Ted leaves behind The Mother’s [[ArcSymbol yellow umbrella]] that he took from her after that same 2008 club visit, which becomes the UmbrellaOfTogetherness she carries in the GrandFinale when they MeetCute. "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS5E01Definitions Definitions]]" also reveals that Ted briefly taught a lecture where The Mother was in the audience, but he was in the wrong room.

** The 100th and 200th episodes "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS5E12GirlsVersusSuits Girls Vs. Suits]]" and "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS9E16HowYourMotherMetMe How Your Mother Met Me]]" reveal that Ted and The Mother were separated by several degrees, specifically through their acquaintance [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS4E09TheNakedMan Mitch the cellist]], The Mother’s ex-roommate Kelly whom Barney picked up on [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS3E12NoTomorrow St. Patrick’s Day in 2008]], and her other ex-roommate Cindy, who briefly dates Ted and breaks up with him, after which he leaves their apartment just as The Mother [[MissedHimByThatMuch enters her room not having seen him]]. He also leaves behind The Mother’s [[ArcSymbol yellow umbrella]] that he took from her after that same 2008 club visit, which becomes the UmbrellaOfTogetherness she carries in the GrandFinale when they MeetCute. "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS5E01Definitions Definitions]]" also reveals that Ted briefly taught a lecture where The Mother was in the audience, but he was in the wrong room.

* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', during the last season, The Mother makes her appearance; but as it turns out, Ted is the last one of his group to meet her. She first meets Barney, [[spoiler:and convinces him to go after Robin]], then befriends Lily on a train, then Marshall by giving him a ride, then Robin, [[spoiler:by stopping her from running away on her wedding day]], and lastly, she meets Ted. When he reveals to them he met her, Lily and Marshall even state how great she is and Barney tried to introduce them at the start of the last episode.
** The 100th and 200th episodes "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS5E12GirlsVsSuits Girls Vs. Suits]]" and "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS9E16HowYourMotherMetMe How Your Mother Met Me]]" reveal that Ted and The Mother were separated by several degrees, specifically through their acquaintance [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS4E09TheNakedMan Mitch the cellist]], The Mother’s ex-roommate Kelly whom Barney picked up on [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS3E12NoTomorrow St. Patrick’s Day in 2008]], and her other ex-roommate Cindy, who briefly dates Ted and breaks up with him, after which he leaves their apartment just as The Mother [[MissedHimByThatMuch enters her room not having seen him]]. He also leaves behind The Mother’s [[ArcSymbol yellow umbrella]] that he took from her after that same 2008 club visit, which becomes the UmbrellaOfTogetherness she carries in the GrandFinale when they MeetCute.

* The anime ''Anime/CodeGeass'', about a disowned prince rebelling against an empire, despite its incredibly large cast, features a great degree of connectedness. The protagonist, Lelouch, has more half siblings than he can count (since his father is an emperor with 108 wives), at least five of which are important to the plot. His father is the primary villain of the series. He and his sister spent time, as children, in the Kururugi household, giving him a personal relationship with his rival, an important businessman, a legendary general, and a girl who will later become an enthusiastic fan of his alter ego. The president of the student council at his school is from a noble family that were supporters of his mother. A military officer he disgraces turns out to have formerly been a guard at his mansion. A Japanese citizen who becomes an important supporter of his rebellion turns out to have been his maid, and also a [[NinjaMaid ninja]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Everyone--no, really, ''everyone''--knows Mikado somehow. Leader of the Yellow Scarves? [[spoiler: his best friend]]. The [[spoiler:Demon Sword and chat room troll]] Saika? [[spoiler: possesses the girl he has a crush on]]. Urban legend Dullahan on a motorcycle? [[spoiler: one of his chat room friends]]; the other is [[ChessMaster Orihara]] [[ManipulativeBastard Izaya]]. And Harima Mika, [[spoiler: the girl made to look like Celty's head]], sits behind him in class.

* In ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', despite Kyon being [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent completely, explicitly]] unconnected to any of the weirdness going on, his ChildhoodFriend turns out to be the previous [[spoiler:holder of an incredible unique power]] whose next inheritor Kyon would befriend, solely by chance, several years later. Most other examples of the trope are justified in that they result from [[spoiler:Haruhi being God and unconsciously warping the universe to be more fantastical]], but this example she has absolutely nothing to do with. It's just how the dice fell.

* ''Manga/WhyTheHellAreYouHereTeacher'': The [[RotatingProtagonist Rotating Protagonists]] are all connected through a net of relationships that gets more and more implausible as the series goes. The first set of protagonists Satou and Kojima are friends with the second set of protagonists, Rin and Mayu, respectively. Those two then go to another school to work in a combo event, and the teacher-student pair they meet there – Hikari and Takashi – also get romantically involved with each other. Then the series introduces Kou, the former student council president of Takashi's school who went to the same junior high school as Satou and Rin, and who also gets in a relationship with his teacher Chizuru, who happens to be friends with Hikari. And after all that, a former ChildProdigy becomes a teacher in the first school, is introduced to the students by Kojima, and gets involved in a LoveTriangle between herself, Mayu's younger sister Saya, and another student called Yorito, with all three of them being Childhood Friends. It continues on from there, with each new couple being connected to a character from the previous volumes in some way or another.

* Seems to happen to most of the mortal side characters in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', even excluding circumstances directly caused by Morpheus' influence.

* ''[[Fanfic/WeightlessMassEffect Weightless]]'': [[Franchise/MassEffect Shepard]] used to live in an orphanage where the nephew of one of the caretaker was Kaidan, then she was bailed out from there by Ghost/[[spoiler: Kai Leng]]. Later, after her rape, she was rescued by [[spoiler: Nihlus]], who then was spared by [[spoiler: Samara]] because without him Shepard would die. And now, apparently, Jack looked familiar to her, too.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' Fanfic [[Fanfic/CrucibleMassEffect Crucible]] has Herz, Trebia's mortal form, was the original ancestor of the 5 clans (one of which was the Vakarian). Kadisa, who married into the clan was a friend of [[spoiler: Deathl]], who manipulated his daughter Jane [[spoiler: to become what she was today to be the one who push Trebia's plans into actions]]. Jane later married Garrus, Kadisa's grandson. Their son Gaius's best friend Tiberius was the son of Victus and Miranda. Tib's lost love Emi was daughter of Jack, who designed Shepard's nanites. Also, Gaius married Amata, daughter of Jane's first crush. And Jane's father died from saving a young Anderson's life.

* In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', Thor becomes the bridge between the magical, the cosmic, and the earth-centered spheres of the Universe. He knew Tony, Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Clint from ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', then met Vision and Wanda in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', and in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', he became the first superhero who met and interacted with Doctor Strange. In ''Infinity War'', he meets the ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''. This becomes clear during the initial skirmish between [[spoiler:Tony's faction and Star-Lord's group on Titan, where the fighting stops as soon as both groups realize that they all know Thor. Later, Thor personally introduces Groot and Rocket to Steve Rogers]].

** While the cast of ''[[Film/Spiral2021 Spiral]]'' has no connections with most of the previous films' characters, the plot progressively establishes most of them to either have different relationships with each other or that they've met each other at least once, including the Spiral killer themselves towards Zeke and Pete.

** Later played straight when it turns out both Skye and [[Series/{{Daredevil2015}} Matt Murdock]] spent part of their childhoods at Saint Agnes Orphanage in New York. The jury is still out on whether they were there at the same time.

** Both Klaus and Aaronev had sons (though not with Lucrezia) named Gil and Tarvek who went to grade school with each other, and later had a rivalry when they went to the same university. Gil and Tarvek both met the main character at different points, and both fell in love with her before they had to part ways. Then the two both snuck into this broken castle, where they met both each other and Agatha again, who was there because the castle belonged to Bill. Agatha didn't know Gil and Tarvek knew each other until [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090805 this]] [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090807 point]].
** In said castle, there was a girl named Zola who was trying to impersonate Agatha. Zola was not only Agatha's cousin on their [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100628 mothers' sides]], but was also an [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090320 actress]] at the place that Gil visited when he was in university. The reason why she was impersonating Agatha was as part of a political conspiracy that also involved Tarvek's cousin named Martellus.
** Klaus had a janitor named Dimitri, who used to be an evil MadScientist who taught other Mad Scientists in the ways of evil. Dimitri was [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20190513 fraternity brothers]] with Agatha's paternal grandfather, and was also a [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20190722 close friend]] with her mother Lucrezia's family. On top of that, he was Martellus' teacher, and he also created the talking animal that Agatha made friends with when staying at Klaus' place.

* ''VisualNovel/KindredSpiritsOnTheRoof'' involves a few lesbian couples at protagonist Yuna Toomi's school, and while Hina knows about them through "[[OurGhostsAreDifferent the kindred spirits]]," she's linked to them through her ChildhoodFriend Hina Komano and her newer friend Fuji Ano. For Seina Maki and Miki Aihara, Hina is classmates with Seina and Yuna briefly interacted with Miki before the start of the game. For the broadcasting trio- Umi Ichiki, Sasa Futano and Nena Miyama- Ano is friends with Nena. For [[TeacherStudentRomance Kiri Tsurugimine and Tsukuyo Sonou]], Ano is friends with Kiri, while Yuna and Ano are in Tsukuyo's class. For Youka Koba and Aki Ariu, Yuna was classmates with Youka during middle school. Lastly, the track-team couple- captain Matsuri Amishima and vice-captain Miyu Inamoto- are teammates with Hina, and are already quite close with Hina by the time Yuna learns about them.

** And then the barricades, where every surviving character fit for battle (and a few who aren't, like Valjean ([[WritersCannotDoMath seventy-two going on eighty]]) and Eponine (starving, lovesick, homeless and [[DoubleStandard female]])) shows up either during the battle or in the sewers.

* In ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'', most of the main cast, is closely connected. Yuu shares a class with her two closest friends, Koyomi and Akari. Yuu also works for the student council, with her literature teacher, Riko Hakozaki as the club advisor, and Koyomi helps out by writing a play for them. Some of the characters in both groups hang out at a local café, [[spoiler:the manager of which is in a relationship with Riko]]. Riko's colleague from her theater troupe comes to help coach the student council, and turns out to have known Touko's older sister while they were in high school. [[spoiler:The theatre troupe also ends up recruiting Touko after the play]].

** This, of course, led to games like 6 Degrees of Creator/KevinBacon and 6 Degrees of [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] (where you pick a random Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} page and follow page links until you get to Hitler's page.)

* In ''Manga/NanatsuNoTaizai'', the eponymous penal crew fought beside each other for years before they found out how deeply they were connected. It turns out that King was a childhood friend of Diane [[spoiler:who brainwashed her to forget him]], and the brother of Ban's lover. Also, Meliodas used to be close friends with Gowther's father, and Gowther himself had a thing like 40 years ago with the aunt of Meliodas' girlfriend, who ''also' had a childhood friend way back that Escanor inherited his powers from. [[spoiler:Also, Meliodas is the only man Merlin has ever loved.]] But none of these connections have anything to do with why they were arrested by the same tiny kingdom or why they were placed on a team with each other.

* ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'': Pretty much every plot-relevant character is directly connected to each other by [[ReallyGetsAround blood]], [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage marriage]], [[BloodBrothers sworn brotherhood]] or [[FamilyOfChoice adoption]]. Somewhat Main/{{justified}}, as the story revolves around the five most notable clans, akin to nobility in the cultivation world, and it is common for nobles to be all related to each other.
** There is a reason why [[MemeticMutation the whole fandom]] jokes that [[BigScrewedUpFamily ''everyone'']] [[MassiveNumberedSiblings is Jin Ling's]] [[FamilyOfChoice uncle]].

* It's established very early on in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' that there was only a single student in Japan to have scored higher than Shirogane on the national mock exams, a boy by the name of Mikado Shijo. It's later revealed that Mikado is the twin brother of Shirogane's classmate (and later friend) Maki, which also means that he's the cousin of Shirogane's crush Kaguya. [[spoiler:It's also turns out that the reason why Shirogane's famiy is so poor is because his father's company was stolen by Kaguya's family.]]